Edward Lewis Gaylord (May 28, 1919April 27, 2003) was an American billionaire businessman,

media mogul A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

and philanthropist. He was the founder of the

Gaylord Entertainment Company Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. () is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and media company named after National Historic Landmark the Ryman Auditorium, built as a tabernacle by Captain Thomas G. Ryman in 1892 and later the home of the Grand Ole Op ...

that included ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

'' newspaper, Oklahoma Publishing Co., Gaylord Hotels, the

Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

TV Channel (later renamed "SpikeTV","Spike" and

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

after being sold off); the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

, and the

Country Music Television Country Music Television (CMT) is an American pay TV network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched on March 5, 1983, as Country Music Television, CMT was the first nationally available channel devoted to coun ...

Channel (CMT) as well as the defunct

Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially "Opryland") was a theme park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement eve ...

theme park and a bankrupt airline,

Western Pacific Airlines Western Pacific Airlines, or WestPac, was an airline which operated in the United States from 1995 to 1998. A low-cost carrier, it was formed in 1994 under the name Commercial Air, later changed to Western Pacific, and began operating schedul ...

Early life

Gaylord was born on May 28, 1919, in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, Oklahoma. His father,

Edward King Gaylord Edward King Gaylord (March 5, 1873 – May 30, 1974), often referred to as E.K. Gaylord, was the owner and publisher of the ''Daily Oklahoman'' newspaper (now ''The Oklahoman''), as well as a radio and television entrepreneur. Born in Atchison, Ka ...

, was the owner of ''

The Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

''. Gaylord graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1941, where he earned a degree in business. He attended the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

Gaylord began his career for Oklahoma Publishing in 1946. He inherited a controlling interest in ''The Daily Oklahoman'' upon his father's death in 1974. He purchased the

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee, when it was in dire financial straits and kept it operating. He created

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On Septembe ...

TV Channel, as well as Country Music Television, or CMT, which is similar to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, and owned

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 1 ...

, a long-running country and western variety show. He was also an investor in Texas Rangers at the same time as

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Gaylord served as the chairman of the Gaylord Entertainment Company until February 2003. Gaylord was the president of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. He also served on the board of directors of the

American Newspaper Publishers Association The News Media Alliance (formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America until 2016 As the publisher of ''The Oklahoman'', he consistently took conservative political positions in opposition to government spending, but at the same time the paper was sometimes accused of improperly dealing with conflicts of interests created by Gaylord's personal financial interests. One example was the paper's editorial support for the city to use public funds to promote the building of a new

Bass Pro Shop BPS Direct, L.L.C, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held retailer which specializes in hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation merchandise. With headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, Bass Pr ...

in Oklahoma City, while Gaylord Entertainment was then a 19.9% shareholder of Bass Pro stock. ''The Oklahomans reporting on this topic again drew criticism from the ''Columbia Journalism Review''. He was also a member of the conservative public policy think tank,

Council for National Policy The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group for conservative and Republican activists in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian rig ...

Philanthropy

The Gaylord family of

helped found the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native Americans in the United States, American Indian art works and Artifact (archaeology), ar ...

in Oklahoma City and has given the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

contributions totaling over $50 million in the last three decades, and founded the

Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication is the journalism unit of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The College is named for the former longtime publishers of ''The Oklahoman''. History In 1897, five ye ...

. The home field of the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaig ...

football team was renamed

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, also known as Owen Field or The Palace on the Prairie, is the football stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It serves as the home of the Oklahoma Sooners football tea ...

due to their contributions.

Personal life, death and legacy

Gaylord had several children, including Edward King Gaylord II, Mary Gaylord McClean, Louise Gaylord Bennett and

Christy Gaylord Everest Christy Gaylord Everest (born 1951) is the former chair and chief executive officer of Oklahoma Publishing Company,Mecoy, Don"OPUBCO expands holdings" ''The Oklahoman'', February 14, 2010 (accessed February 19, 2010). which formerly published ''The ...

. Gaylord died of cancer on April 27, 2003, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His funeral was held at the

. The ''Daily Oklahoman'' remained being controlled by the family until the sale in 2011; the news features and editorial position of the paper reflect affiliation with ''

The Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ow ...

'', which has the same owner. Edward L. Gaylord's daughters

and Louise Gaylord Bennett remain as board members. Both sought an updated look for the paper and seemed to present more frequent opposing viewpoints of issues of public concern. The company that bore his name, Gaylord Entertainment Company, transitioned into a

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

in 2012. As part of a long-term contract giving Marriott International the rights to manage its hotels and adjacent attractions, the company was renamed Ryman Hospitality Properties. The Gaylord name transferred to Marriott, and now exists as a brand known as

Gaylord Hotels Gaylord Hotels is the large convention hotel brand of Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, it consists of five large hotels with a total of 9,918 rooms, along with attached convention centers and one overflow support hotel property, in ad ...

, though RHP continues to own the physical properties.

Awards and honors

*1974 - Oklahoma Hall of Fame *1985 - Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. Gaylord was the Host of the 1988 Achievement Summit at the Opryland Resort in Nashville.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaylord, Edward L. 1919 births 2003 deaths Asheville School alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Harvard Business School alumni University of Oklahoma people United States Army personnel of World War II American billionaires Gaylord family Businesspeople from Oklahoma City Oklahoma Republicans Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma Ryman Hospitality Properties 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists Philanthropists from Oklahoma